Do I need to do this with this Shea butter for CP soaps?

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

AutumnBreezeSoaps

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2014
Messages
146
Reaction score
78
Location
Central Wisconsin
I got this off Amazon for a great price and now I'm worried if i made the right choice. Do I have to strain this etc like is says for making CP soaps? I didn't want to make more work for myself so if I do have to I may just pay more for the other shea butter. Any help on this would be wonderful!
Here is a picture of what the label says:

Shea butter label.jpg

I will also be making body butter with this as well...is this ok for body butter?
 
i bought unrefined shea before and i did not need to filter. i guess it all depends though, when you melt yours and find debris, you might have to strain it, which is no big deal me thinks. some like unrefined because it's more pure, less process, less whatever. while some can't stand unrefined because of the smell and prefer the white, clean, and refined one.
 
whew thanks...if I do have to strain I just would run it through some cheese cloth or a tight strainer then? I don't mind the smell at all but I was raised in the stick! LOL Smells like dirt (a little) to me. I do love that there are no additives though :D thanks for the info, I got worried there and wondered if it was a huge process or something that I would have to go through.
 
I just watched the video that they had listed on the product and it showed how to do it..not too bad. Also seen that IF you add fragrance, to do it once it cools or it can get grainy if you add it while the oils are hot. That's interesting....I have seen many say that it gets grainy when using this type of shea. It may just be because they are adding the fragrance while it's hot. Can't wait to try this out...I hope I like it, it's very cheap for 5 lbs of shea.
 
I think it wouldn't harm to watch the video. :razz:
Though the product may be high quality and free of mold, it could be prone to nasties if it contains water.

I'd surely process it, when it is an ingredient for a lotion or a butter.
Heat and hold will dp the rest.
But then there is the scent; not necessarily appreciated by everyone.

As for use in CP/HP soaps, you can use it as is, but if you've seen the video, there can be a residue; in soap that would mean dark particles.
So it is up to you.
Raw Shea is not that much better than refined shea IMHO.
Plus safe and easy to work with.
 
Last edited:
You need to temper that if you are using for anything other than soap. Lip balm, body butter, etc. For soap, just filter and use. To temper it, melt it then hold it at 170-185 for 20-30 min. Just do the whole batch at once and you don't have to do it again. And while you have it melted, run it through a sieve.
 
I have seen many say that it gets grainy when using this type of shea. It may just be because they are adding the fragrance while it's hot
The graininess of Shea totally depends onthe way of handling the butter.
Easy does it + patience.
You could compare it to making and melting chocolate. (tempering it's called).

In any product you would add the fragrance at a low temperature ..... (cool down phase); it's not shea specfic
 
Thanks for that wonderful info :D We would have gotten the other shea but this was at a super good price. I may go the other way next time tho. Not so sure I want to go through all that with the body butter. I may just buy other stuff for that and use this specifically for soap. I will indeed melt it all and strain it tho just to be safe.

Just gonna do it! I may as well get it done and that way its good for anything. Now just gotta wait. Do I store this in an air tight container, or in the fridge? or doesn't that matter?

Shea butter melt.jpg
 
This got very dark looking after tempering it for 30 min. Very interesting...doesn't smell as bad either IMO It could just be my nose getting used to the smell lol. Now just waiting for it to cool so I can strain it and put it in a container. That wasn't too bad, but I did stay by it to be sure it didn't get to hot and stayed around 180 ish.
 
I have had a few batches of unrefined shea that had quite a bit of debris. It is rather obvious when you see corn kernels or charcoal floating aroumd in your oil. I don't find I need to strain I just pick the debris out.
 
I did find some debris while stirring but not bad. Going to strain in a bit here and see what I find. THEN I will finally begin to make some soap, been waiting ALL day lol
 
It looks beautiful!

Preferebly I store all oils and butters in the fridge, especially in summer.
Shea has a rather long shelf life, so it depends a bit on what you'd find easiest to handle'
soft or harder shea butter.

(When I find the time, I like to melt cocoa butter and shea butter and pour them in ice cube
or guests soap moulds - between 10 and 25 grams each - for easier dosage. Really handy!).

You could melt a part of the Shea butter and infuse it with a vanilla bean. Gives the Shea a
wonderful sweet scent.
 
I found one kernel of corn in my shea butter. I had to start laughing becuase I thought it was so funny that someone else found corn. Just one kernel is all. And a few black specks...but that was it. It was pretty clean, but now it's all ready to go and it's hardening up really nice. It says to cool it quickly to reduce graininess so that's what I did. I put a little on my hands and OH man was it nice :D So smooth and made my hands feel very soft. Can't wait to try my soaps that have it in them.
 
I always purchase unrefined raw shea from Ghana and I alway melt and strain it before adding to my oils. I have never had to temper it to keep it from becoming grainy, but many times mine will have lots of debri. I have never found corn but have found red pepper pods, especially when my supplier forgets and gives me yellow instead of white
 
Back
Top